Tianhe City, Mortals, and Cultivators

Tianhe City.

A group of mortal youths diligently training their bodies suddenly raised their heads in unison.

The clouds and mist parted, and a white Cloud Boat silently emerged before descending onto the tallest mountain in the city.

Their eyes immediately filled with delight.

"Immortals!"

"Ah, is it this year's wheat?"

"I wonder whether the immortals will take disciples this year?"

The old man standing nearby likewise gazed up at the mountain. After watching for a while, he withdrew his gaze and swept his eyes sternly over the youths.

"Go. This was a boon bestowed upon you by the immortals."

"If you possess such fortune, being able to remain by the immortals' side would be a fine thing indeed."

At his words, the youths immediately cheered with joy. After bowing to the old man in unison, they began climbing toward the mountain.

There were naturally slopes and forests along the way, but they could not hinder them in the slightest.

They were the cleverest and most diligent group of youths in Tianhe City. Every day, they came here to temper their bodies, and they had also studied some texts suitable for mortal cultivation, passed down by the Four Seasons Sect through its stationed disciples.

But their greatest problem was that their spiritual roots were not particularly good.

Should they take the path of spell cultivators, focused on spells and divine abilities, their future would be difficult. Body cultivation, however, would suit them rather well.

The mortal elder understood that if an immortal took a liking to them and brought them away into a Blessed Grotto-Heaven of the "Immortal Realm," it would be a good thing.

They swiftly followed the mountain path they had walked countless times since childhood and arrived at the summit.

At that moment, sturdy, quick-witted golden apes were carrying bundle after bundle of wheat from the Cloud Boat.

This wheat had already been sun-dried and needed only a little processing to become flour.

Two "immortals" in blue Daoist Robes were speaking with the immortal master stationed here. The youths immediately stopped and stood obediently to one side.

The one stationed here was a Female Cultivator.

When she saw the youths hurrying over, she smiled warmly at Li Ye. "Junior Brother Li, every year, quite a number of mortal youths from Tianhe City go to the sect to serve as menial disciples.

"Though this place is likewise boundless and vast, so vast that mortals might spend their entire lives without finding its end, after a hundred years, they will still be but a scoop of yellow earth. The path of cultivation requires opportunity and resources.

"Take a look. If you have need of them, just tell me. These youths have all been carefully raised by Tianhe City. Every one of them has received the sect's education; plowing fields, watering crops—there is nothing they do not know, nothing they are not skilled at.

"If they can return to the sect with you, it would also be an opportunity for them."

After speaking, she cupped her hands toward Li Ye, her words utterly sincere.

She had been stationed here for a full hundred years. She had practically watched those children grow into youths with her own eyes, only for them to be unable to enter the true Cultivation World for one reason or another, and instead spend their lives in the mortal world.

To be sure, the regions divided by that ancestor of the Four Seasons Sect through Jianmu were all connected to one another.

The land was so vast that it far exceeded the places allotted to mortals in other domains, and there was absolutely no need to worry about demonic cultivators entering to commit evil.

Yet as she watched those youths who had made names for themselves in the martial world fade from the stage, and beautiful faces turn into withered bones, she could not help but feel some sorrow and reluctance.

But even the Four Seasons Sect could only do so much. After generations of cultivation, the number of mortals born with spiritual roots had gradually increased.

Yet making cultivation possible for everyone remained unrealized to this day.

So whenever anyone came by lately, she wanted to recommend some.

At the very least, those senior and junior brothers who could come here had certainly been screened. If mortals followed them, they would have nothing to worry about.

"Why does Senior Sister say that?"

But Li Ye felt somewhat awkward. He was living quite comfortably himself and had never thought of keeping menial disciples to serve him. It just felt strange.

This "Senior Sister" was being far too presumptuous, making him rather uncomfortable.

"Alas." Su Ya shook his head at the Female Cultivator. "Junior Sister Liu, this truly goes too far.

"If Junior Brother Li is willing, then naturally that is another matter. But acting like this violates the sect's rules!"

The Female Cultivator sighed helplessly. "It is indeed this junior sister who overstepped her bounds.

"Junior Brother Li, the water gate of Tianhe Mountain has opened. Shall I have a clever youth take you to have a look?"

"Hm?" Tianhe Mountain Water Gate?

What was that?

As Li Ye puzzled over it, Su Ya leaned close to his ear and said, "Did you bring the Aura of Golden Fortune I told you to bring?

"When you reach the water gate, scatter the golden fortune into Old Tortoise's pool.

"That old gentleman will give you some benefits."

Could this Old Tortoise be the god Su Ya had mentioned earlier, the one protecting this place?

Li Ye understood and nodded. "All right, then I'll trouble Senior Sister."

A smile appeared on the Female Cultivator surnamed Liu's face. "Not at all, not at all."

She beckoned to the youngsters standing obediently in the distance.

"Send someone sharp to take my junior brother to see Old Tortoise. The rest of you, go with the Golden Ape and carry the wheat down the mountain!"

The youngsters seemed to whisper among themselves for a while before a tall, handsome youth with wheat-colored skin stepped forward.

He walked over excitedly and bowed to them. "This humble one, Zhao He, pays respects to you immortals!"

The female cultivator surnamed Liu nodded casually. "Go on."

Zhao He hurriedly looked at Li Ye. Only after seeing him nod as well did he eagerly lead the way ahead.

After they had left, Su Ya looked at the female cultivator. "How much Lifespan do you have left?"

She answered with easy indifference, "About ten years."

"Senior Brother, after I pass away, who will take over as Tianhe City's guardian?"

Su Ya slowly walked to one side and said softly:

"You may name someone yourself, Junior Sister Liu."

"However, you serve as the connection between the sect and Tianhe City. By yourself, you have come into contact with far too much karma. Naturally, you have earned merit."

"On the day you pass away, a Nascent Soul elder will come. If the fortune and merit you have accumulated over these hundred years are sufficient, you can receive an investiture into the celestial register and become one of Tianhe's Mountain and Earth Gods."

"But you must understand that even Mountain and Earth Gods require the help of cultivators. Today, I had to spend some face to bring Junior Brother Li here."

"Before I return after escorting and distributing the remaining wheat, the matters here will be entirely in your hands."

He reached out and patted the female cultivator surnamed Liu on the shoulder, then boarded the Cloud Boat once more. The Cloud Boat slowly started up, transforming into a beam of light that vanished into the distance.

The female cultivator gazed in the direction Su Ya had left, anticipation gleaming in her eyes.

She had worked for a full hundred years, giving up the splendor of the Cultivation World to cultivate among mortals, and at last she had a chance to become an Earth or Mountain God.

But if she had not mistaken what she saw earlier, this "Junior Brother Li" had yet to enter the sect. Why had Senior Brother Su spent a favor just to bring him here?

She turned to look at the secluded little path behind her. After thinking for a while, she ultimately did not follow.

Hopefully, that child was clever enough to explain Tianhe City's current situation in detail.

These grotto-heaven worlds inhabited by mortals were said to be treated equally, yet there were always subtle differences in the resources allocated each year.

They needed people from the sect to help them, while those people needed sufficient merit. If they could cooperate, that would naturally be for the best.

Besides... some spirit plants only produced seeds and saplings here.

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